Democracy Happy Hour – June 16, 2021

Topic for June 16, 2021 – Proposed Changes to State & Federal Courts.

Democracy Happy Hour, June 16, 2021 - Meeting Recordings & Chat:

• Speaker View Recording
• Gallery View Recording
• Chat (Link to download the file)

Upcoming Democracy Happy Hour Topics:

• 06/23/21 – Ranked Choice Voting w/ special guest from FairVote Washington
• 06/30/21 – Special Guest: Nick Licata

 Actions, Events & Misc. Links:

• King County Ranked-Choice ACTION NEEDED: https://secure.everyaction.com/wekTMOyBRke6KZLoCoAndw2?ms=fdf
• ‘Invisible Hand: Rights of Nature’ - Screening & Panel Discussion – June 27th @ 5 pm – Register @ https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_G2AK_2dhQOOvHKG2BONrfw

• For the People Act/John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act – ACTIONS & EVENTS
• Deadline for Democracy – June 28th – July 10th - https://deadlinefordemocracy.org/?source=fixdemocracyfirst&s=0
• Fair Fight Action Phone Banks - https://www.mobilize.us/fairfight/event/384255/
• Declaration for American Democracy TAKE ACTION - https://dfadcoalition.org/takeaction/
• Common Power - Local & National Actions- https://commonpower.org/
• Common Cause – Phone banking to other states for “For the People Act” - https://forthepeople.cc/

• WA Redistricting Links & Listening Sessions:
• WA State Redistricting Commission - https://www.redistricting.wa.gov/
• Redistricting Justice for WA - https://www.redistrictingjusticewa.org/

• DONATE to Fix Democracy First - https://www.fixdemocracyfirst.org/donate

Democracy in the News Links

• Senate unanimously passes a bill making Juneteenth a federal holiday - https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/15/politics/juneteenth-federal-holiday-senate-vote/index.html
• White House unveils strategy to combat domestic terrorism - https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/15/white-house-strategy-domestic-terrorism-494558
• New emails detail Trump’s efforts to have Justice Department take up his false election-fraud claims - https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/trump-emails-doj-election-fraud-claims/2021/06/15/638ab654-cdc9-11eb-8014-2f3926ca24d9_story.html
• Trump-inspired death threats are terrorizing election workers - https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-trump-georgia-threats/
• Republican governors touted their states’ election security in 2020. Then they pushed new voting restrictions in the name of election security. - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/06/09/republican-governors-touted-their-states-election-security-2020-then-they-pushed-new-voting-restrictions-name-election-security/
• Democracy Crisis in the Making: How State Legislatures are Politicizing, Criminalizing, and Interfering with Elections - https://statesuniteddemocracy.org/resources/democracy-crisis-in-the-making-how-state-legislatures-are-politicizing-criminalizing-and-interfering-with-elections/‍
• Black Americans have worse voting rights now than in 1965 - https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/black-americans-have-worse-voting-rights-now-1965-n1270384‍
• G.O.P. Bills Rattle Disabled Voters: ‘We Don’t Have a Voice Anymore’ - https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/14/us/politics/disability-voting-rights.html
• Voter ID laws pose significant barriers to transgender voters - https://thefulcrum.us/voting/transgender-voting
• Democracy Is Already Dying in the States - Republicans around the country are proving Joe Manchin wrong. - https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2021/06/manchin-republicans-bipartisan/619167/
• FACT SHEET: How the Biden-Harris Administration is Fighting Against Attacks on Americans’ Constitutional Right to Vote - https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/06/11/fact-sheet-how-the-biden-harris-administration-is-fighting-against-attacks-on-americans-constitutional-right-to-vote/
• Garland announces expansion of Justice Department’s voting rights unit, vowing to scrutinize GOP-backed voting restrictions and ballot reviews - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/merrick-garland-voting-rights/2021/06/11/47906eda-cad1-11eb-81b1-34796c7393af_story.html‍
• Hundreds Of Companies Pressured To Cut Ties With Group Behind Restrictive Voting Legislation Push Across U.S. - https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2021/06/14/hundreds-of-companies-pressured-to-cut-ties-with-group-behind-restrictive-voting-legislation-push-across-us/?sh=2c6d23e05b89
• The Push to Protect Voting Rights Is on Life Support - https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/senate-for-the-people-act-manchin-voting-rights-1182102/
• The 3 main reasons conservatives oppose HR 1 - https://thefulcrum.us/voting/for-the-people-act-2021‍
• Democrats Build Constitutional Case for New Voting Rights Bill - https://news.bloomberglaw.com/social-justice/democrats-build-constitutional-case-for-new-voting-rights-bill
• A leading voting rights expert is among Biden’s new round of judicial nominees. -https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/15/us/politics/biden-judges.html‍
• Joe Manchin's "highly suspicious" reversal on voting bill follows donation from corporate lobby - https://www.salon.com/2021/06/10/joe-manchins-highly-suspicious-reversal-on-voting-bill-follows-donation-from-corporate-lobby/
• LEAKED AUDIO OF SEN. JOE MANCHIN CALL WITH BILLIONAIRE DONORS PROVIDES RARE GLIMPSE OF DEALMAKING ON FILIBUSTER AND JANUARY 6 COMMISSION - https://theintercept.com/2021/06/16/joe-manchin-leaked-billionaire-donors-no-labels/
• Memo from Manchin’s office that leaked today: https://www.politico.com/f/?id=0000017a-15e9-d33b-a37f-1defe4c70000
• Manchin moves shake up Dem strategy for massive elections bill - https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/16/manchin-gop-elections-bill-494878‍
• Let’s Take the Filibuster to Court - https://newrepublic.com/article/162718/supreme-court-kill-the-filibuster
• McConnell Explains How He’ll Steal Another Supreme Court Pick From Another Democratic President - https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/mcconnell-biden-supreme-court/
• Voting rights fight has distracted Congress from a more pressing threat to democracy, activists say - https://news.yahoo.com/voting-rights-fight-has-distracted-congress-from-a-more-pressing-threat-to-democracy-activists-say-204212295.html
• Why are states lining up to ban critical race theory? - https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20210612085115831
• The GOP Has Declared a War on Protests - https://inthesetimes.com/article/florida-anti-protest-bill-hb1
• Public Citizen Report: Corporations That Paid Nothing in Taxes Spent $450 Million to Influence Public Policy - https://www.citizen.org/news/report-corporations-that-paid-nothing-in-taxes-spent-450-million-to-influence-public-policy/‍
• Boeing resumes donations to Republicans who contested US election - https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2021/6/14/boeing-resumes-donations-to-republicans-who-contested-us-election
• SCHOOL PRIVATIZATION LOBBY PLACES FAKE NEWS ON LOCAL STATIONS - https://theintercept.com/2021/06/16/ed-newsfeed-american-federation-for-children-local-news/
• Laws Preventing Dark Money Disclosure Are Sweeping the Nation - ALEC-inspired bills making dark money disclosure illegal are passing more states each year. - https://readsludge.com/2021/06/15/new-laws-preventing-dark-money-disclosure-are-sweeping-the-nation/
• Here’s how to tell if a politician might be stealing campaign cash - https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/11/how-to-tell-if-a-politician-might-be-stealing-campaign-cash.html‍
• Oregon Rep. Mike Nearman expelled from Legislature in historic 59-1 rebuke - https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2021/06/oregon-legislators-expel-rep-mike-nearman-who-helped-armed-protesters-enter-capitol.html
• Why King County Needs Ranked-Choice Voting - https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2021/06/15/58244912/why-king-county-needs-ranked-choice-voting

‍Proposed Changes to State & Federal Courts - Links:

• ‍Court Reform Gets New Attention - https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/court-reform-gets-new-attention‍
• Structural Reforms to the Federal Judiciary - Restoring Independence and Fairness to the Courts - https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/courts/reports/2019/05/08/469504/structural-reforms-federal-judiciary‍
• Reforming judicial ethics - https://www.citizensforethics.org/reports-investigations/crew-reports/reforming-judicial-ethics/
• 4 ideas for Supreme Court reform - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/04/15/4-ideas-supreme-court-reform/
• 9 ways to reform the Supreme Court besides court-packing - https://www.vox.com/21514454/supreme-court-amy-coney-barrett-packing-voting-rights
• Biden Sets Up Commission To Study Supreme Court Reform - https://www.npr.org/2021/04/09/985738915/biden-sets-up-commission-to-study-supreme-court-reform
• What should we expect from Biden’s commission on Supreme Court reform? - https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2021/02/25/what-should-we-expect-from-bidens-commission-on-supreme-court-reform/
• Judiciary Makes the Case for New Judgeships - https://www.uscourts.gov/news/2020/06/30/judiciary-makes-case-new-judgeships
• Legislative Assaults on State Courts — 2021 - https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/legislative-assaults-state-courts-2021
• Can courts be gerrymandered, too? Absolutely - https://www.penncapital-star.com/commentary/can-courts-be-gerrymandered-too-absolutely-opinion/‍
• What Democrats and Republicans Agree On: Gerrymandering the Courts - https://www.governing.com/now/what-democrats-and-republicans-agree-on-gerrymandering-the-courts